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LEBANON : 

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FOR THK BENEFIT OF THE 



FRESB YTERMX CHUBCH OF LEBAA'-OJV. 



F A I y T YET F U E SV 1 N G.' 



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LEBANON : 

M. M. MANNFK, PRINTF.U AXO I'.INDFK. 



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LYTPiOD rCTOR Y JVOTES. 

1. No pre-eiiiiuence of sacrifice or success need l^e 
claimed in this review. Living and departed men and wo- 
men in the Presbyterian and other churches in Indiana are 
wortliy of double honor. 

'1. To move beyond a State or Synod is hazardous for a 
minister of moderate al)ility. His capital can not be trans- 
ferred. 

8. Itemizing the advantages of different fields, city or 
country, new or old churches, large or small salaries, and 
comparing them, leads to contentment. 

4. Expenditures of money and labor for religious pur- 
poses are good investments. 

5. No minister or church with a ^' single eye" to God's 
glory need fear the want of material aid. — Ps. 37. 

(j. The church furnishes the safest insurance office and 
the best of society. 

7. It is better to wear out than to rust out — dotage comes 
from non-use. 

8. The Session of a Presbyterian Church, after its Ladies' 
Social, is its chief power. A faithful elder elected for life, 
and serving a struggling church for years, is a most honora- 
ble man. 

1). The (■hurch ol' all denominations is one. The field is 
the world. 

10. Young ministers and young members of the church, 
be of good courage. 

(rlorious things of Thee are spoken, 

Zion, city of our God. 
(irace, all the work ^hall crown, 

Through everlasting days ; 
It lays in Heaven, the topmost stone. 
And well deserves the praise. 



A RETFvOSPECT, 



And TiiEv Glorified God in Me. — Gal. 1:24. 



The Rev. John Newton, the friend and pastor of Cowper, 
the poet, himself the author of some of our best Hymns, 
says in his autobiography : '^ Reflection on this text awak- 
ened my first desire to preach the Gospel.''' Paul wrote it 
when, for many years, he had made full proof of his minis- 
try. It is, therefore, a good text for the young candidate and 
for the old minister. Paul understood the principle that 
the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him for- 
ever. Realizing this was a sweet and sufficient solace 
for all his self-denials and sacrifices. Properly estimated or 
not by others, lie found satisfaction in this result : They 
glorified God in me. This is no uncommon experience in 
the church or the ministry. It might be universal. 

The students of Lane Seminary, under the teaching of Dr. 
Lyman Beecher, were never led by liim nearer to the Savior, 
or to a deeper consecration, than when that grand old man 
rehearsed what he liad seen and of which he had been the 
chief actor. Once he prefaced his reminisence with this re- 
mark: ^'The most important period of church history for a 
young minister to study is that portion immediately before 
his own era ; and yet tliat very portion is the most inacces- 
sable.'^ ^'And now,'' said he, ^^ I'll tell you about it." Then, 
what graphic views we had of Long Island, of Litchfield, of 
Boston, of Cincinnati, of Nettleton, of Taylor, of Jeremiah 
Evarts and of Dr. J. L. Wilson ! 

And so I have longed for the church history, locked up, 
often unconsciously, in the experience of old men in the 
ministry. 1 have scarcely been satisfied witli Dr. M. M. 
Post's classic sermon, ^^A retr()s])ect of thirty years' minis- 
try at L<)gansj)()rt ;" or, J. 11. Joliustou's valuable discourse. 



4 IJFK IN INDIANA 

"A iiiiiiistrv oi' lorty years in Indiana ;'' or, even witli Albert 
Barnes' ^^ Life at Three Score and Ten/' I craved more 
egotism, more distinct ])ersonal reminisence. Wonld that 
Revs. W. W. Martin. J. M. Dickey and J. A. Oarnahan had 
been i>arrolous and liad printed a few paiies of personal his- 
tory. It is true, the world conld not contain the books we 
lonii" for, but we lonir for them. 

Kiskinii" much in the otlier extreme, these pages are i)re- 
l)ared and presented to the young ministers of the Presby- 
tei-ian Church in Indiana. Be this my high ambition, that 
some of tliem may glorify God in me. 

I was born in Lexington, Kentucky, April 2, 1819, and was 
educated in Miami University and Lane Seminary. I came 
to Indiana September 2, 1844; induced to this choice sud- 
denly, wliile thinking of some young ministers who had 
formed in the Seminary an Indiana Society of Inquiry. 
They were settled as follows: S. N. Steele at Marion, he 
died in New York in 1854. A. Lemon at Gilead, he died in 
Minnesota in 1869. T. S. Milligan at Rochester, he died in 
Indiana in 187H, and W. M. Oheever at Monticello, he died 
at Kansas (-ity in 1878. S. S. Thompson, now Professor in 
Wabash College, the only survivor of the band, was at * 
Delphi. Samuel Kidder, who had spent a vacation at Fort 
Wayne, ex])ecting to retu.rn, died in the Seminary, a senior, 
in 1848. All but Kidder received their college education in 
Indiana, at Wabasli College, except Clieever, who was a 
graduate ol' Hanovei'. Tliis beloved band drew me to In- 
diana. They still attract to Heaven. 

A few other ministers of our churcli were in Northern In- 
diana, from other Seminaries, older men, wliose lil'e work 
mingles in the <'lu'is1ian civilization ol' our State. The 
Jiorthern tier of counties liad a more intimate relation in civil 
and religious things witli Michigan than Indiana. 

My settlement was at Plymouth. My ordination took 
place in Lupoi'te, Ai)ril, 184.^. Marshall county, Plymouth, 
the county seat, was then mostly covered with a dense forest. 
Only a few years before the Indians roamed over it. Traces 
of tliem. in lamilv reservations, i-emained. An earnest. 



AT THREK SCORK. D 

eiilerprisinii, white populaticMi was coinilig in. The excite- 
Mient to a young minister was intense. The tirst meeting of 
Presbytery I attended was at Oxford, Tippecanoe county, in 
October, 1844. M. M. Post, J. A. CJarnahan and others 
were there, and then acquaintanceship began, which grew 
to admiration and love. Tlie Synod followed at Indianapo- 
lis. Dr. J. Bhmchard, a delegate from Cincinnati Presby- 
tery, was keeping the Indiana Synod sound on slavery 
and advocating the Watchman of the Valley as a church or- 
gan. But the ever memorable event of that Synod was a 
missionary meeting, when James Thomson swayed the au- 
dience sublimely : '^ When my brother William went to 
Palestine in i8o7, a college classmate wondered that a man 
of such promise should bury himself in that far off land. 
Who is buried now, the young missionary or the lawyer V^ 

The pastor of the second church, where we met, was H. 
W. Beecher, Henry Ward not then written in full, and he 
then only famous in print i'or lectures to young men, and 
editorials in the Indiana Farmer. Father Dickey, J. H. 
Johnston, in the ministry, and Elders Judge Stevens, S.Merrill 
and others were there, earnest and hopeful. Henry Little 
and R. Hawley are almost the only survivors of tliat gener- 
ation. Others rest from tlieir labors and their works fol- 
low them. 

With the exception of tlie Synod of 18-1:0, when I made a 
mistake aiul remained at home to nurse a growing re- 
ligious interest among tlie people, and a meeting of Pres- 
bytery in 1848, it has been a ])rivilege to be present at 
eacli of these courts since I came into the State, and to hve 
General Assemblies I have been commissioner. Sucli has 
been the personal and family liealth and ])rosperity, that 
full and i)rompt attendance has been given to every busi 
ness meeting of each. For tliis favor gratitude is certainly 
due to the Master. 

To return to Plymouth. That church having been organ- 
ized on May -27, 1888, and left, without ministerial care, a 
few meml)ers scattered and disheartened, were found by S. 
N. Steele, and re-organized in 184-->. Peceiving an ini 



r; IJFK IN INDIANA 

pulse from the poshive aiul liery Steele, and supplied a 
lew months by an Oberlin student, W. A. Westervelt, I found 
a devoted and hopeful membership at Plymouth. But it 
was the industrious swarm of bees without the hive. And 
this was the way that want was met : 

There was in the village a commodious room erected for 
school and meeting uses, the only public room besides the 
Court House. The organic law of this building was that 
strangers had preference over resident ministers. No preach- 
ing was i)ermitted in the Court House. At my second 
Sabbath, after having preached in the morning and while 
preparing for evening service, a citizen introduced a minis- 
ter who had traveled all that day with his family from 
Rochester, twenty miles distant. He claimed his right and 
preached that night. I was indignant. Befoi-e breakfast 
next morning, with Ero. J. L. Wertervelt, a most energetic 
Elder, we had planned a home for the Presbyterians of 
Plymouth. W. G. Pomeroy, a Universalist lawyer gave us 
a lease on a good lot for five years. Bro. Westervelt donated 
an old warehouse. People of all classes furnished needed 
work, lumber and other material, and on Thanksgiving Day, 
less than a month after we began work, we held services in 
a neatly finished room, 20x32 feet, free from debt. 

The outlay of money for this building was less than $100. 
Dr. Milton Badger, Secretary of the Home Missionary Soci- 
ety was much pleased with our success and published an 
account of it with some of its lessons, August, 1845. 

Looking l)ackward it seems like this was the key note of 
my life. Ever since I have been associated with congrega- 
tions in tlie cliurch building business. That year we began 
in tlie woods, east of Plymouth, the erection of a log meet- 
ing house. A small congregation was formed in that vicin- 
ity with James O. Parks as Polder. It w^as a mutual gratifi- 
ciition a few months ago, for the first time since the Sj^ring 
of 18-lr(j, in company with Bro. Parks, to retrace the past and 
with difficulty recall the tall ])()plar groves on the site of the 
flourishing village of Bourbon. Two years completed my 
work in ^Farshall countv, but the ])ictui-e i>rows brighter as 



AT TllRKK SCORK. » 

lime rolls on. The forests, the streams, the newly opened 
roads, the rude dwellings, the stir of the new settlements, 
the genuine hospitality, the meetings for religious worship 
and other purposes in groves and cabins, the dear families, 
the few aged people, the many in the prime of life, and the 
little children, the first funeral and the flrst wedding, and 
above all a blessed revival, come vividly before me, and 1 
ask myself, can any memory be more pleasant than a Minis- 
ter's of his lirst love ? And the nearer he reaches Paul's 
ambition, not to build upon another man's foundation, the 
sweeter the retrospect. 

The ague conquered. After a long struggle, compelled 
to seek a different climate, with a long lingering look, I 
left Northern Indiana. 

The second church of New xVlbany was my field from Oc- 
tober, 18-16 to October, l8o(). 

The current newspaper of the day had this item : ^'Mar- 
ried at Oxford, Ohio, on Tuesday morning, November 10th, 
184(), by the Rev. D. Tenney, Rev. J. M. Bishop, of New 
Albany, Indiana, and Miss Lucy D. North, of the former 
place." If any of these reminiscences are worth repeating, 
and if any church has reason to remember me kindly, it is 
largely owing to help obtained from this union. 

At the close of this period (1850,) the review showed the 
following results of four years labor : 

Sermons Preached ".. 292 

Pastorial Visits 1,093 

Funerals Attended 59 

Additions to the Church 98 

Infants Baptized -17 

MONEY RAlvSEI). 

For Salary $ 2,350 00 

Benevolence 1,540 00 

Church Building 11,020 00 

This church building was the great visible event. Aside, 
however, from consultation in session meetings and general 
oversight, the Pastor had little to do. The subject was 



S I- IKK IN INDIANA 

scarcely iiient ioiicd iVoni llic pulpit. Elder W. C Conner 
devoted more than a year of constant personal care to the 
work. Most cheerfully, patiently, noiselessly was this duty 
discharged. The retrospect of this era is pleasant. The con- 
trast is striking between PlymontJi and New Albany. At 
the latter place everything was organized. Such a bench of 
Elders and Deacons is rarely seen. A note of discord was 
never heard, even in the choir! With supreme pleasure I 
record the names of the Elders and without comment muse 
their praise : Jacob Simmers, William C. Conner, James 
Brooks, KalphH. Hulbert and John Loughmiller. Only the 
last one lingers on eartli. The Rev, James Gallaher, who 
assisted in a glorious revival, suggested and urged the erec- 
tion oi' the new building and gave valuable lessons from his 
own observations as to its arrangements. 

From New Albany we removed to Bedford, to supply a 
smajl church in that place and undertake a wide missionary 
work. No attempt will be made to recall this itineracy in 
in detail. For over three years I rode oji horseback more' 
than three thousand miles annually, Irom Bedford to Bloom- 
ington, on the north ; to the Ohio River at Leavenworth on 
the south, west to Duboise county and east to Seymour. 
These and intervening places were regularly visited once a 
month. The field contracted, but during ten years, after 
leaving New Albany, the journeyings on horseback were 
not much lessened. In these years much church building 
and repairing was overseen. Neat houses were erected at 
Mitchel, Leavenworth and in Duboise county. The Bed- 
ford building was repaired, and a Universalist house at 
Bloomington was purchased and improved. Considerable 
consultation was also given with ministers and others which 
aided in the erection of ])uil(lings elsewhere. What diverse 
agents co-operated with the minister and were essential to 
success ( What women there were in these fields ! Bless- 
ed commentaries OP Ro. 1(3:1,2 and Phil. 4:3. Mrs. Eliza 
Shields, of Seymour who died November 13, 1866, Mrs, Jane 
Seward, ol Bloomington who died August 15, 1865, and Mrs. 
Lovey Blackwell. of Bedford who died April 19, 1878, were 



At THREE SCORE. 9 

typical of otliers of equal faith and works who shine on 
earth or in Heaven. And what will Heaven be! 
Where the saints of all ages in harmony meet, 
Their Savior and brethren transported to greet! 

After the lapse of years it is not unprofitable to read 
over the list of names of co-workers. It throws light on the 
chapters of names in the Bible. It awakens pleasant mem- 
ories, bright anticipations, mingled with instructive repent- 
ings. 

In the Bedford graveyard lie the bodies of our departed 
children, Lewis B., Susan N., Robert and John, and still our 
living children say with Wordsworth's Little Cottager, 
''We are Seven !■' 

In 1860 we moved to Bloomington and remained there 
until 1867, without essentially changing the field of labor. 
The second church of Bloomington was organized by me in 
June, 1852, so the period of fifteen years may be regarded 
as one pastorate. But now begins the rail road era, and the 
faithful intelligent horse is sold with regret. The Civil 
War and re-union of Presbvterians occupy the public mind 
and heart. The University of the State, and its learned men, 
in the Faculty and elect youth under their care contrast with 
former associates. But all these public affairs are foreign to 
the aim of these simple annals. Are not these matters pre- 
served in the archives of the State and Church? 

The little White Church around the corner and its little 
congregation had a mission. Such fidelity, singleness of aim, 
primitive love, I have not seen surpassed. Austin Seward, 
well called Yulcanus All heart, what an Elder! Pure mind- 
ed and faithful Deacon M. W. Helton, and Father T. Carter, 
were well matched with others alive and dead. The times 
change, and it is not time serving to change also, if the 
Master's voice is heard. The cloud moved and the mission- 
ary period ended. Dr. Plumer well says : Whenever it can 
be done young ministers should spend some time in mis- 
sionary labor It is one of the best schools on earth. It is 
very i)leasant labor too. Whoever spent a part of his early 



10 LIFE IN rXDIAXA 

life in this service and did not d3light to speak ol* it in his 
old age ? (Pastoral Theo. 201.) 

In 1867 I was called to Rockville and was Pastor in that 
refined town until 1872. This was the essential re-unoin 
period. Two strong churches in Rockville, well organized, 
and with the marked peculiarities of the two branches, 
came harmoniously into one, just before the General As- 
semblies united. The formal union took place by order of 
the two Presbytries, December 29, 1869, A subscription 
was in circulation in each church for new buildings and 
the corner stone of one was laid, but consolidation took 
place and a substantial and costly building was dedicated 
January 15, 1871. The dedication was especially memora- 
ble by the presence of Charles C. Beatly, D. D., L. L. D., of 
Steubenville, Ohio, who began his ministry in Parke coun- 
ty in November, 1822. Having organized a church in the 
vicinity of Rockville, he anticipated a permanent settle- 
ment with that people. He was, however, turned aside by 
Providence and had not re-visited the field until a half a 
century had passed. What a day was that when we retrac- 
ed the ploughed field to find the stones of the foundation of 
a log church! And as the venerable man recognized a log 
of the old church in an old stable, which he saw fifty years 
before, we could well realize the power of sacred relics. 

The Rockville building cost over $14,000. Elder John 
Ott was the leading member of the building committee and 
relieved others of the burden. 

The most important and far reaching event of this period 
in the Rockville church, was the sending out a band of 
missionaries to Persia. The newspaper had the following 
notice: ^'Married at the Presbyterian church, July 17, 
1872, by the Rev. W. Y. Allen, assisted by Rev. J. M. Bishop, 
Rev. J. M. Oldfather and Miss F. N. Rice ; an^l in the same 
ceremony Rev. W. L. Whipple and Miss M. U Allen." This 
double wedding was the consummation of an interest which 
had absorbed the community for months. The Rev. J. Little, 
D. D., said of it : "If there is any such thing as putting jewels 
in the crown of ministers before they die, it is the having 



AT THREE SCOR*:, 11 

foreign missionaries ^o from the fields of their labor, especi- 
ally when they go to lands starving in multitudes." 

My pastorate began in Rockville with the regular Prayer 
Meeting on Wednesday, October 23, 1867, and ended with 
the regular Prayer Meeting, October 23, 1872. M. Henry 
says : Family worship, morning and evening, is like a good 
hem on a piece of cloth, it prevents raveling. And so it 
may be said, there is a security in a prayer meeting at each 
end of a pastorate. 

I was free from pastorial care the month of November, 
1872, the only interval since October, 1844. It would have 
been longer but for a wise remark of the late Rev. W. 8. 
Rogers, of Oxford, Ohio, which is worth repeating. He said 
to me: ''I made a mistake in getting out of work at your 
age. After a while the difficulties of getting back increase." 
I hastened to put on the harness and accepted an invitation 
to supply the Lebanon church, beginning my service Decem- 
ber 1, L^72, and after two months trial accepted a call. 
Unless very much mistaken, the voice of the Master says 
this is the way walk ye in it. (Isa. 30:21.) Paul was re- 
luctant to enter Europe, (Ac. 16:6-7) and yet found his 
chief happiness in yielding his will to the manifest rulings 
of the Spirit. So we may believe it always will be. Bax- 
ter notices it in his own case. Woe unto Jonah ! 

And here we are, as at Plymouth in 1844, and uninter- 
ruptedly since, with a people who have a mind to the work 
of church building. The burden and the joy in large meas- 
ure all these years has been the same, church building! 

After Rev. F. M. Symmes had left Lebanon and before I 
came, the people, without ministerial advice had sold their 
old building, bouiiht a lot, and were soliciting for a new 
building, to cost not less than $10,000. The foundation 
stone was laid September 1, 1873, and the basement prepar- 
ed and opened for a place of worship December 24, 1874. 
With varied changes and incidents of heroic sacrifice, the 
debt was nearly extinguished on a $12,000 building. Sick- 
ness in the Pastor's family called for a change of climate, 
and Presbvterv was asked to dissolve the pastoral relation. 



12 J.IFE IN INDIA'S' A 

The eougregational consent was given Sabbath, September 
22, 1878, and on Wednescla}^ following tlie storm came and 
in an instant the loved building was a pile of ruins ! 

The bewildered congregation soon rallied. The action just 
taken for seperation as Pastor and people was suspended. 
The Pastx)r's sick wife cheerfully acquiesed in the indication 
of Providence. The Presbytery and Synod commended our 
case unanimously to the favor of the Board of Church Erec- 
tion and the christian public. Ready money in large and 
small sums came in, as if windows had been opened in 
Heaven. And the organization was saved. 

And here we are hopefully, cheerfully at work, with a 
very much embarrassed people, at Three Score Years, in 
this Divinely indicated task. The Apostle not older called 
himself Paul the Aged. (Philm. 9). But his services in 
the church were harder than ours, as he witnesseth in all of 
his autobiography, especially in the Second Epistle to the 
Corinthians, 6:1-10, 11:23-33. May we all follow him as he 
followed Christ, and then each one for himself can say : 
''And they Glorified God in Me.'' 



STOBM THOVGHTS. 



BY SAMUEL L. HAMILTON. 



Suggested by the ruins of the beautiful and costly Pres- 
bj^terian Church edifice at Lebanon, Ind., that, after six 
years of patient toil and self sacrifice, by the pastor and a 
poor congregation, in rearing, almost to completion, was, in 
the twinkling of an eye, totally destroyed by a tornado, 
September 25, 1 878. 

THE COMPLAINT. 

We toil through pain and wrong ; we fight — we fl\% 
We love, we lose ; and then, erelong, stone-dead we lie. 

— [Proctor. 



AT THREE SCORE. 



13 



"Ascended Lord ! Thou hast remembered still 
The beauty of each earthly vale and hill ; " 
The crystal waters of each babbling brook 
Thou leadest down tlirough shady glen and nook, 
From where Thou hast distilled them at the fount 
Upon the bleak and eagle-haunted mount- 
E'en till the unpolluted beverage come 
To mingle in the depths of its ocean home. 
Sweet lilies of the vale ! How thou dost smile 
Upon their matchless grace, and kiss, the while, 
Their upturned lips with heavenly zephyrs 
And Thy beauteous sunliglit ! Gentle sparrows 
Build where Thou dost point their safe retreat , 
And Thou, Supernal One, dost stoop to meet 
Them there, and teach them architecture's law — 
Wherein no human skill can note a Haw. 
Thy breath, at each returning spring-time, broods 
In blessings o'er unconscious earth, and floods 
The heart with joy, when from the cold, dead 
Fallow-land, outspread like waves of molten lead 
Before the ken, there starts to life the buried grain. 
That nods and ripples back its glad refrain 
'The summer through, on every passing breeze- 
Till e'en the garner holds its ripened sheaves. 
The cattle on a thousand hills, and all 
The throng that doth inhabit— great and small— 
The forest, air and deep unfathomed sea. 
Do ever find Thy guiding hand, and see 
Their certain mission pictured by the light 
Of instinct, faintly glinting on their sight. 
All these are Thine — Thou lovest them ; and oh I 
Thine ear hath heard the cry of us who know 
In whom we trust ; our souls have felt thy touch. 
And answered to the Spirit's call for such 
As shall be named Thine own— bespeaking love 
Far richer than descended from above, 
To any of Thy creatures here beside, 
And vet, it seems. Thy manner is to hide 



14 l.IFE IN INDIANA 

Thy face, and leave our I'eeble minds to grope 
In doubtful search for Duty's path, in hope 
To win approving smiles by righteous deeds. 
And lo ! we stuble, for Thy presence leads 
Us not ; the seal of Thy displeasure stamps 
The fruit of every best intent, and dam])s 
The fervid wish of honest, holy zeal. 

THE ("ONSOLATION. 

Some falls are means the happier to rise. — [Shakespeare. 
As fragrance from the trampled rose, that smells 
The sweeter for him Avho tramples it, there wells 
Within the soul a mystic essence born 
Divine, pursuing darkness like the morn. 
With kindly voice, in softened tones, as mild 
As angel whispers to a dying child, 
It says, or seems to say — know this ; pure gold 
Comes not from gentle handling of the ore — 
As images in snow by lingers deft 
And slight; but in the fire and 'neath the heft 
Of hammers, precious grains are purified 
And costly worth compressed. Who thinks no guide 
Doth lead man's steps, thinks neither deep nor true. 
What seemeth good and that which man would do 
To honor God, He knows would fail, because 
It fails to sanctify tlie doer. His laws — 
His plan — require tliat God be glorified 
In man and not by man. Who's sanctified 
Must meek submission to His process bow 
And rest with firm reliance on His vow. 
In mercy, God respected not the gift 
Of Cain, because no token of a power to lift 
His soul out of the wreck that Sin had made. 
Was mirrored in the offer. Hast thou laid 
Thy gift upon the alter of a ('ain 
# That (Tod may see tliy work 'i Then hope is vain. 
His glory is not seen, because the heart 
Reflects it not. No handiwork of art. 



AT THREE SCORE. 15 

Howe'er well done — no gift of high esteem. 

Alone, can satisfy the King Supreme. 

''Faith wrought with works-' in Abraham, and God 

Was glorified, because the i^atriarch 

Was sanctified ; for, now the little si3ark 

Of heavenly light that gleamed in Abram's breast 

On Mamre's plain, up to the crowning test 

On old Moriah's sacred top, had grown 

A flame, whose constant radiant brightness shone 

On Calvary. "And Abraham was blest 

In all things by the Lord." Art thou in quest 

Of duty ? Then proceed, at every step, 

''In singleness of heart as unto Christ,'' 

Nor stop to long inquire if thou art led ; 

But count all things as blessings kindly shed, 

By Him whose glory is man's chiefest good. 

And know, e'en cloud and storm when understood. 

Crushed walls, inverted spire, and shattered shrine — 

P^it types of man ere He of Jesse's line 

Was born — are heights from whence the soul may rise 

Well plumed for loftier heights toward the skies. 



dJV APPEAL. 



BY MRS. PHEBE C. HAKKI80N. 



Looking, this stormy, wintry afternoon, at the partially 
covered walls of the Lebanon Presbyterian Church, whicli 
with new strength and beauty, have arisen from the blast of 
last September, we find these lines of Whittier running 
through our heart and brain : 

"There are moments in life when the li]) and the eye 
Try the question of whether to smile or to cry.'' 
When we remember how strangely as a church we have 
been blessed in the past and how often, (rom unexpected 



It) LIFE TX INDIANA 

sources, funds have Howed into our treasury, we i'eel like 
giving ourselves up wholly to thanksgiving, and yet when 
we look upon our now scattered congregation and reflect 
how much remains to be done before we can possibly wor- 
ship around the old altar, and then when we remember our 
utter lack of money to further prosecute the work of re- 
building, fear and sadness creep in upon the soul, rendering 
its song of praise incomplete. Yet, true to-day, as it has 
ever been in the past, is the promise ^^Ask and ye shall re- 
ceive." 80 with no other prelude than this little bit of ex- 
perience, so common in this world of ours, we send forth this 
little appeal for money — money to be used, not for self or 
selfish purposes, but for the building of God's house ; for the 
glory of Him, whose we are and whom we serve. 

We ask it, first of all, because we love the good old Pres- 
byterian church, in whose faith we were born and (God 
helping us) in whose faith we will die. 

We ask it for tlie sake of earnest men and women who 
have borne each other sweet fellowship in toil and self-de 
nial, who yet consider nothing that they have done worthy 
the name of sacrifice, praying only in their hearts ''Thy 
Kingdom Come ! '^ 

We ask it for the sake of a christian minister, who for the 
past six years, has led our little flock in all our stormy wan- 
derings, cheering us in darkest days with his most earnest 
eff*orts and unfaltering faith, willingly sharing all of our pri- 
vations, counting '^the work its own reward.'' 

We ask it for the sake of hands that began the work with 
us but that are now chilled in death : lor their sake we press 
forward in the work ihey have laid down. 

We ask for money to complete our unfinished church be- 
cause we believe that in that church God's word will be pro- 
claimed with power, and that thereby christian character 
Avill become established and the salvation of many souls be 
accomplished. 

We ask it because Christ so loved the church that He 
died to redeem it with ^^His own precious blood ; '' because 



AT THREE SCORE. 17 

it is the liope of earth and throws a liglit on the patli to 
Heaven. 

We ask it l^ecause we believe that God never began a 
work in this world without the means and the money to ac- 
complish it, and because He has so linked christian joy with 
christian giving, that those who give are even more blessed 
than those who receive. 



A STATEMEMT, 



On the building destroyed by the storm, we had paid 
$12,000. A debt rested on it of $650. The estimated cost 
of rebuilding, $2,600. This sum will give us an unfurnished 
building, without bell, pulpit, pews, lamps, stoves or other 
furniture. 

Our peop>le are sustaining all the current expenses of the 
church without foreign aid, more liberally than ever before ; 
and have better views of their responsibility to the church 
at large and a perishing world, without the Gospel. We are 
well organized for home work and liave a temporary home, 
by the courtesy of the Christian Church, and by labor and 
money contributions are urging on the completion of our new 
building. Scarcely a day has been lost when it was possible 
to work, since the storm. 

After all that has been given from kind friends, at home 
and abroad, we yet need $1,000 before we can be aided by 
our Church Erection Board. With confidence that the 
Divine Spirit will incline to a generous response, from public 
spirited persons in large or small sums these pages are sent 
forth. 

JOHN M. BISHOP. 

Lebanon, Ind., February, 1879. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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